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Windows did not pass genuine validation

Question

Hi, tunred on my PC this morning and got Microsoft Security Essentials come up with the following message "Windows did not pass genuine validation".

I bought the PC on eBay February 2010 and until this morning have had no software issues.
I've run the "Windows genuine advantage validation tool" and have the following results that I don't understand, but is it saying that something isn't genuine or have I just got a glitch in the system?

Answers

Since you do not have a genuine Microsoft Certificate of Authenticity (CoA) either affixed to the computer or included as would be affixed to the top of the retail store package, we have ruled out being able to help you reinstall a genuine license for Windows
onto this computer.

As Noel noted, the current installation of Windows XP Pro on this computer is a Volume Licensing installation. VL editions of Windows are sold to larger businesses, educational institutions, government agencies and other such organizations
that need to install Windows with a greater degree of flexibility on a large number of computers.

Unfortunately, unscrupulous people steal the product keys for these VL editions and use them to install Windows onto computers and then sell them to unsuspecting consumers. When Microsoft finds out that the keys have been stolen, they blacklist the
keys, and eventually the Windows Genuine Advantage utility installed on the computer picks up this info and alerts you to the fact that your Windows installation is nongenuine. That is probably why you are just now being informed that this is a nongenuine
installation---at the time of purchase and installation, it was probably not known that this product key had been compromised and was being used by unscrupulous sellers.

If possible, you should pursue the seller for a refund for what you paid for the Windows license on the computer. If you purchased thru PayPal or eBay, unfortunately their 45-day claim window has long since closed. If you paid by credit card,
it might be worth your while to call them to see if they can do anything for you.

If you think you might want to follow the prompts to buy a WGA Kit from Microsoft to move up to Windows 7 (XP is no longer available), looking at the specs of your motherboard, it looks like it has enough capability to support Windows 7 assuming
you have populated it with sufficient RAM and processor. Otherwise, you can try to find a genuine license for XP to buy somewhere (they have been out of production for some time now so genuine ones are increasingly hard to find), or you can buy
a genuine copy of Vista. PLEASE stay away from eBay, Amazon Marketplace (Amazon themselves are of course OK), and the like to avoid more counterfeit/nongenuine software.

All replies

Hi, tunred on my PC this morning and got Microsoft Security Essentials come up with the following message "Windows did not pass genuine validation".

I bought the PC on eBay February 2010 and until this morning have had no software issues.
I've run the "Windows genuine advantage validation tool" and have the following results that I don't understand, but is it saying that something isn't genuine or have I just got a glitch in the system?

Many thanks
Michael

Diagnostic Report (1.9.0027.0):

-----------------------------------------

Windows Validation Data-->

Validation Status: License store error

Validation Code: 12

Cached Validation Code: N/A

Windows Product Key: *****-*****-M6PX2-V96BF-8CKBJ

Windows Product Key Hash: n3MqC4LOVOQQgQUf4VrjJV6OaXI=

Windows Product ID: 76487-640-5536995-23421

Windows Product ID Type: 1

Windows License Type: Volume

Windows OS version: 5.1.2600.2.00010100.3.0.pro

M Lonsdale

Your installation of Windows is counterfeit - it's based on a Volume License Key which has been published all over the internet, and even it we repaired the Licensing Store problem, it would never activate.

By the looks of it, the motherboard is a retail one.

For which version and edition of Windows is the machine licensed, according to the COA sticker on the case, if any?

Also, tell us if the second line of the CoA has "OEM Software" or "OEM Product" in it, or does the second line have the name of a major computer manufacturer, such as Dell or Fujitsu-Siemens?

Since you do not have a genuine Microsoft Certificate of Authenticity (CoA) either affixed to the computer or included as would be affixed to the top of the retail store package, we have ruled out being able to help you reinstall a genuine license for Windows
onto this computer.

As Noel noted, the current installation of Windows XP Pro on this computer is a Volume Licensing installation. VL editions of Windows are sold to larger businesses, educational institutions, government agencies and other such organizations
that need to install Windows with a greater degree of flexibility on a large number of computers.

Unfortunately, unscrupulous people steal the product keys for these VL editions and use them to install Windows onto computers and then sell them to unsuspecting consumers. When Microsoft finds out that the keys have been stolen, they blacklist the
keys, and eventually the Windows Genuine Advantage utility installed on the computer picks up this info and alerts you to the fact that your Windows installation is nongenuine. That is probably why you are just now being informed that this is a nongenuine
installation---at the time of purchase and installation, it was probably not known that this product key had been compromised and was being used by unscrupulous sellers.

If possible, you should pursue the seller for a refund for what you paid for the Windows license on the computer. If you purchased thru PayPal or eBay, unfortunately their 45-day claim window has long since closed. If you paid by credit card,
it might be worth your while to call them to see if they can do anything for you.

If you think you might want to follow the prompts to buy a WGA Kit from Microsoft to move up to Windows 7 (XP is no longer available), looking at the specs of your motherboard, it looks like it has enough capability to support Windows 7 assuming
you have populated it with sufficient RAM and processor. Otherwise, you can try to find a genuine license for XP to buy somewhere (they have been out of production for some time now so genuine ones are increasingly hard to find), or you can buy
a genuine copy of Vista. PLEASE stay away from eBay, Amazon Marketplace (Amazon themselves are of course OK), and the like to avoid more counterfeit/nongenuine software.

Thanks Dan
I've tried eBay but they don't want to know but as you suggested I have taken it up with my credit card company who will take it up the company in question's bankers. They suggest that it could take a month or more. So technically I am left without a PC and
can't afford a new one. At least we have a Dell Inspiron Mini 10.
The people the PC came from appear to be still trading, their website is running and everything on it appears to be very current. They currently aren't listing anything on eBay under the name that I purchased from but I think they are trading under a different
name.

Is there anybody I can pass this information on to to help stamp this out.

I ran a Windows 7 check and it wasn't up to spec, but I may try getting it up to spec.

Thanks Dan
I've tried eBay but they don't want to know but as you suggested I have taken it up with my credit card company who will take it up the company in question's bankers. They suggest that it could take a month or more. So technically I am left without a PC and
can't afford a new one. At least we have a Dell Inspiron Mini 10.
The people the PC came from appear to be still trading, their website is running and everything on it appears to be very current. They currently aren't listing anything on eBay under the name that I purchased from but I think they are trading under a different
name.

Is there anybody I can pass this information on to to help stamp this out.

I ran a Windows 7 check and it wasn't up to spec, but I may try getting it up to spec.

Regards
Michael

M Lonsdale

piracy@microsoft.com - that should get them noticed :) - note that you can only expect a form response from that address - you're lucky if you get a status report, but it ODES get into the system.

This may not be the ideal solution, but for a temporary solution you could install Linux. Ubuntu has a program called WUBI. It is an Ubuntu installer that runs from within Windows, but creates a dual boot system with no knowledge of the Linux operating system.
Until you can do something else with the Windows installation, this would at least give you access to your files and internet access without the counterfeit license issue.

Once you get things taken care of, you can try calling Microsofts phone validation number (I do not have that off hand) and explain the situation. I had lost an XP key once and I think it cost me about $10 and they gave me a valid license key over the phone
(keep it in a safe place if they can get it for you!!!). I do not know if they will be able to do the same in your situation, but it's worth a shot!

They may ask you for the license key, to be prepared, you can try installing Speccy from Piriform (it's free). It is a program that gives specific information about your computer, such as hardware, operating system, RAM, and the plain text license key (which
is clearly blacklisted). Since this is counterfeit, do not be shocked if they cannot or will not sell you a license key though. I just figured it might be worth a try.

Problem solved thanks, I bought a new PC with Windows 7. Took the 1TB hard drive out of the old and put it in the new PC formatted it and use it as a backup. Put the old DVD writer in so now have 2 and put the rest on eBay.

Having paid by credit card I tried to get some money back via Visa and am still waiting to hear from them.